The present invention resides in an improvement to lamp shades having separate panels such as glass or the like and generally comprising a plurality of such panels connected together by a support system in a predetermined polyhedral configuration. In prior art lamp shades of this type, which are exemplified by the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,245, and U.S. Pat. Nos. De. 246,267; 246,268; 246,269; 246,270 and 246,742; the support system has consisted of a frame formed by rigid collars extending about the corners of the glass panels, and stiff arms, usually made of metallic wire having a hook portion at either end thereof for connecting groups of adjacent collars and a body portion extending between the hook portions for interconnecting the spaced apart collars or groups of collars.
As a result of their being aesthetically pleasing, lamp shades having the known wire arm frame support systems have had a fair degree of commercial acceptance. However, they nonetheless suffer from a number of disadvantages which limit their utility and substantially increase their cost. A principal disadvantage inheres in the fact that lamp shades employing frames with stiff wire arms are not readily assemblable, and hence are assembled as a part of the manufacturing procedure and are marketed only in completely assembled form. Since these lamp shades, like lamp shades of any type, tend to be relatively bulky, there are increased inventory and freight costs associated with storing and shipping assembled lamp shades. Further, since these prior lamp shades having glass panels and wire arm support systems are relatively fragile, they are particularly prone to damage during shipping and handling, even with specially adapted frames such as that disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,245. Consequently lamp shades with such wire arm frames must necessarily entail increased transportation costs, and all too often entail increased consumer dissatisfaction with damaged goods.
Another disadvantage of conventional wire arm frames for glass panel lamp shades is that since such shades are difficult to disassemble, it is difficult to effectuate repairs. Hence even when only a single glass panel, or only a relatively few panels, are broken, either in transport or in use, the shade cannot realistically be repaired without replacing the entire shade.
A further disadvantage of wire arm frames for panel lamp shades of the present type, especially when the panels are made of glass, is that such frames are impractical unless the wire arms are specially configured to prevent damage to the glass panels during shipping and handling of the shades. Such arms are relatively difficult to fabricate and must be manufactured to relatively close tolerances in order to be effective.
It is to be noted that despite the above noted disadvantages of wire arm frame support systems, they have nonetheless been thought necessary heretofore by those in the art of glass panel shades in order to provide an aesthetically pleasing lamp shade having the requisite strength and rigidity for supporting the relatively heavy glass panels in the desired polyhedral configuration.